This rare and interesting name is the diminutive form of the nickname surname "Round", which derives from "the Old French "rund", or "ro(u)nd" meaning rotund which was originally given as a nickname to a rather plump person. In this instance, it would probably apply to the son of Round, the "ing" denoting the patronymic "son of". The surname from the French source is first recorded at the beginning of the 13th Century as in one Aleck Ronde who appears in the Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire in 1246, and Alen Le Rond in the Assize Court Rolls of Essex in 1377. Other early recordings of the surname include the christening of Helen and Sarah, daughters of Ralph and Margery Rownding at Ixworth, Suffolk on June 24th, 1561 and February 21st, 1563 , respectively. In Kent John Rownden married Joan Bonger on October 10th, 1564 at West Peckham, London. The name in its present form is recorded in London when one Mary Rounding the infant daughter of William and Abigail Rounding was christened at St. Dunstan's, Stepney on May 24th 1648 and at St. James' Dukes Place, Sarah Rounding married John Lucas on February 23rd 1692. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph Rund, which was dated 1202, The Fine Court Rolls of Essex, during the reign of King John "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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